1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air evacuable support and particularly one adapted for non-horizontal use to support a person in a seated position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Persons suffering physical impairment or disability by reason of advanced age, injuries, medical afflictions or the like are often not adequately supported by conventional household furniture, or by vehicle seats or wheel chairs. Such seating arrangements do not provide comfortable, conformable cushioning, nor do they provide sufficient immobilization against lateral movement or forward movement out of the seat. This is particularly true of persons whose bodies are disfigured or malformed. Adequate, comfortable support is especially important for victims of Marfan syndrome, a genetic disease which affects the connective tissues of the skeleton, lungs, eyes, heart and other organ systems such that the tissue does not adequately hold the body parts in position.
Specially formed cushions have heretofore been fabricated to conform to the precise body contours of an individual. This provides adequate support and prevents any movement that would aggravate existing medical afflictions or develop secondary trauma, but since such a support system has to be specially tailored to a particular individual it is too expensive for most persons.
One of the better immobilization means of the prior art is disclosed in the previously mentioned co-pending patent application Ser. No. 07/556,733, filed Jul. 20, 1990. The disclosed system comprises an air evacuable casing filled with small discrete elements such as round beads. The casing is normally horizontally oriented to support a person placed upon the casing, which extends up the sides of the person to cradle and support the body.
Once the beads are properly located or displaced to conform to the contours of the body, the casing is evacuated. This draws the beads together into a rigid mass. It has been found that such an arrangement comfortably supports and substantially immobilizes a person in a horizontal position so that the person can be safely transported without causing discomfort or secondary trauma.
However, it has also been found that when this type of immobilization device is oriented to rest upon a wheelchair the beads in the elevated portion of the casing tend to abruptly fall into the less elevated portions and are difficult to upwardly redistribute for molding about upper areas of the body where support is needed. It would appear that isolating the beads by using partitions to form separate compartments in the casing might solve the problem, but this has not proven to be satisfactory. The skeletal structure of each individual, whether normal or malformed, is sufficiently unique that some degree of bead migration out of such local or separate compartments is necessary. For example, if an unusually high concentration of beads is needed in the shoulder area for proper support, beads cannot be moved out of their respective compartments to supply this need.
Thus, there is an unmet need for an air evacuable support which can be used with wheelchairs, vehicle seats, airline seats, or with conventional household chairs and sofas. A suitable support must adequately cushion and support the body through proper bead distribution despite the orientation of the support in a seat configuration.